TV Review: Ash vs Evil Dead Season 2, Episode 4 “DUI” (USA, 2016)

Every now and again, a television series delivers an episode that may not necessarily be bad but it’s just mundane and almost boring. Enter DUI. Despite an important closing minute, Ash vs Evil Dead’s fourth episode of its second season can pretty much be regarded as filler.

After Ash’s dad had his head mushed all over the road courtesy of a possessed Delta, Pablo, despite his good intentions, gets trapped in the rampaging vehicle with the sole survivor from last weeks teen murder spree. Ash borrows Chet’s car and with a very inebriated Chet, attempts to save Pablo and his ride.

Meanwhile, Ruby and Kelly set off on their first mission as a team by hunting down some of Ruby’s kids.

That story right there is pretty uneventful. There is a shootout and and some more talk of Baal but the two more or less just provide noise for this weeks ep. It would have been a better idea to let them take a week off while we all pondered what on earth they were up to but instead, in a filler episode for the series, they provided filler scenes for the episode. Rough, I know.

The meat of DUI though was Pablo and Ash’s rescue attempt of the Oldsmobile and Necronomicon. The one highlight was Chet, drunk out of his mind, killing it with some hilarious delivery of every one of his lines. Do us all a favour and keep Ted Raimi in this show. He and Campbell’s chemistry is a sure fire win.

Pablo continues to have visions (in the episodes defense, the car crash one was pretty impressive) and the book has begun spouting off all types off malevolent jargon. My interest in Pablo’s head-space and the books control over him is starting to grow and I constantly wonder how he gets out of this predicament and at what cost. We may have found that out at the end of the episode, as the two throw the book into a portal to hell.

Another issue with the episode was the final battle between the Delta and Ash. I don’t think anyone is an expert on how to properly choreograph a fight between a chainsaw wielding, out of shape man and a demon car but this probably won’t be in the handbook when we start trying to figure it out. It simply wasn’t entertaining and to kick a scene while it’s down, it was the recipient of some very wonky special effects; the worst of the season and perhaps the show in general.

I’ll try to cut DUI some slack. It was an extension of last weeks episode and a necessary wrap-up. However, it still could have provided some more hits. Kelly and Ruby, who tore it up a couple of weeks ago were forgettable this week and core of the action rested in a poor showdown with the Delta. Chalk it down folks, this one was a miss. But with things seemingly “over”for the team, next week should see a new arc commence.